Readers React: The myth of Warren Harding’s failed presidency

To the editor: Brad Schiller’s hit piece on President Warren Harding was simply ridiculous.

He complained that Harding lowered the top tax rate from 73% during the preceding Wilson administration to 25%. What he does not tell you was that Wilson raised tax rates dramatically during World War I. War-weary voters in 1920 elected Harding in a landslide because he promised peace and prosperity.

The economy grew dramatically after Harding’s tax cuts were enacted. Revenues poured into the Treasury, the stock market reached record new levels, and the unemployment rate was reduced to below 3%. Yes, tariffs were raised, but they were the main source of revenue for the government for about the first 150 years of the republic.

With respect to extramarital affairs in the White House, look no further than Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, all Democrats. So I wouldn’t go there.

I am not saying Harding was one of our greatest presidents, but he was far from the worst.

Geoffrey C. Church, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Karl Marx once quipped that history repeats itself, “first as tragedy, then as farce.”

The mendacious presidency of Harding was a tragedy that put our nation on the path to the Great Depression. The Trump presidency, though it often appears farcical and has provided much fodder for comedians, is not so funny for the children and parents who have been separated from one another, or the allies of our country that have been alienated by his bizarre behavior.

William Faulkner’s thoughts on history may be more relevant to our present presidential predicament: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

Ben Miles, Huntington Beach

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